Doll Face
by FrankLenRIP
Summary: The gang begins to worry about Misery's obsession with dolls. She is not focussing on her studies, neglecting her dust bunnies and even ditching her friends for tea parties. So what happens when a paralyzed Ruby is mistaken to be a doll?
1. The doll

**_Doll Face _**

**AN: Welcome to my second story! I hope you enjoy it! :D **

**Sadly, I do not own Ruby Gloom. :C**

**Still, please review and help me improve!**

* * *

Ruby and Iris were seated on two stools that were far too small and short to be appropriate for someone of their height and stature, even for the petite Ruby. The perky goth just stared at the wobbly, child-sized card table, covered with a worn-out blanket. Iris briefly fiddled with the paper plates, plastic forks and paper cups. She was never one to sit still. Eventually, the two best friends turned their attention to the six dolls seated in front of them.

Some had no eyes.

Some had lost their arms.

Others had missing heads.

"These are some of the dolls. The others couldn't attend the party because they were being rude. Well, except Misérables. She isn't here because of a scraped knee." Misery admitted from outside her room, trying to open the door but it was stuck. No matter how hard she pushed and pulled, only the bars rattled.

Immediately, Ruby cracked open the heavy door for Misery and the unlucky girl entered the dusty, candlelit room.

"Well, you have some doll collection, Misery." Iris whistled.

Misery's lips twitched to form a small smile as she rearranged her collection. Her drab purple dress dragged along the cold ground as she moved Dr Dreary to the top shelf. Until her toe was caught in a hole on the floor and she fell forward along with the doll, smashing the porcelain toy into smithereens. Misery's smile fell along with the doll.

"Expected that from Dr Dreary. At least he can fix his eyes later. Typical boy. Always the eye-fixer." Misery sighed.

"Speaking of boys, where are Skull Boy, Frank and Len?" Iris asked.

"Oh, they're just outside with a racing car Skull Boy made." Ruby smiled as she fetched a broomstick for Misery's broken doll.

* * *

"Faster! FASTER!" Frank and Len whooped.

Skull Boy rolled his eyes at the conjoined rocker twins, grinning at them with fondness. They had been urging him to increase the speed of the race-car that Skull Boy had created from scratch. Being the novice that he was, it was not reluctance that had prevented him from being like his possible grandpa, the great racer Damien Demon. Sheer ignorance about how to brake. Only fourteen years old, he had no choice but to make the car remote-controlled but it didn't stop the sleek red automobile from purring. Now, if only the car hadn't kept stopping and starting a few maddening times, he would be the fastest skeleton on earth.

"Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of it. Damien Demon, the greatest racer wasn't successful at first too, you know! No wonder why he's my ancestor! We have so much in common!" Skull Boy smiled as he fiddled with a box.

Wires were sticking out of it. He began to quickly adjust the knobs with practiced ease and soon, he let out a triumphant cry. Soon, the brothers joined him as their vehicle began zooming around. They were now cruising along the highway with ease, Frank and Len relishing the flirtatious women with all of their eyes agog at the Skull Boy 500.

"Man, I can get used to this." Frank chuckled, winking at a very lovely lady. She threw a handkerchief at him, hoping that he would keep it as a memento.

He would have if it didn't land right on Skull Boy's face.

Needless to say, Skull Boy was spooked by the white fluttery thing and suddenly, passing trees became a blur of green. Hoping that they weren't going to meet their doom, Frank and Len clutched to the armrests of the leather seats, gritting their teeth and trying not to scream. Soon, after rather hilarious antics like the Skull Boy 500 bouncing up and down on a row of trampolines, they made it home alive. Immediately, when he heard the screeching tires, Skull Boy had finally removed the handkerchief.

"Woah." He gasped, amazed at the turnout of events. There was a moment of silence.

...

"LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!" Len whooped. Before the brothers could even ask Skull Boy to start the strangely-still-intact-engine, the girls appeared. The boys quickly got out of their car to greet them.

"There you are! Now we can all go to the market!" Iris squealed, pushing aside the baffled Skull Boy. She grabbed the remote and was more than ready to try it when Skull Boy snatched it from her.

"Nuh-uh! We nearly lost the car an I don't wanna risk that again!" Skull Boy huffed, clutching the box like a life preserver.

"Oh, come on! Just a little bit!"

They tussled over the contraction for what seemed like forever until they heard Misery taking a deep breath. Everyone stopped and prayed that Misery wasn't suffering another asthma attack. Luckily she wasn't.

She was just looking at a nearby toy shop, just a few meters away from the car, admiring the most fantastic, beautiful and magnificent doll _ever_.

The toy shop owner had placed an immense doll, nearly two feet high, modeling a robe of black crêpe, with real hair framing her smooth and white face and enamel eyes.

There were other dolls behind the large one, which seemed to be the divine doll's friends. The merchant, who was pacing back and forth in front of his shop, kept playing with the doll's beautiful red locks.

She started grinning from ear to ear, causing the glass windows of the car to shatter.

"I'm getting those dolls first."

* * *

Down in the Great Hall, Scaredy Bat was searching for the perfect, not-too-frightening spot to relax for a little while. A mouse squeaked and the little bat shuffled nervously away from the mouse hole.

"Oh dear, oh dear. I better go somewhere else." He gulped as his grip on the bag of mosquitoes tightened. He scooted to a nearby vase.

For a few moments, silence reigned and the bat stopped trembling.

"Perhaps I will not be attacked by some ferocious monster." He sighed with relief, popping a huge handful of mosquitoes inside his mouth. A peaceful smile adorned his cute face. **(AIIIIIIEEEE!)**

Just as he swallowed his first mouthful, two towering shadows appeared and Scaredy didn't notice them until he felt something tap his shoulders. His eyes became as wide as saucers as he let out something of a shriek. He jumped high into the air, a good four feet up before landing with a resonating 'thud'. Immediately, Scaredy tucked his head under his wing and trembled like a leaf, before curling into a fetal position.

"Please do not hurt me!" He cried.

One of the figures raised his arm, and he was holding something in his hand.

"Eep! Ruby? Iris? Anybody?" He squeezed his eyes tight, bracing himself.

After several uneventful moments, he dared to open an eye, only to reveal Edgar and Allen. Allen cleared his throat before holding out a bottle.

The odor was so strong that Scaredy had to fight the urge to gag. Simply put, the reek of it was terrible. Like unwashed feet, mushroom and rafflesia mixed together. Yet, despite his watering eyes and tortured nose, he smiled and clapped his hands.

"Yay! It's finally here!"


	2. The rewards?

**_Doll Face_**

**AIIIIIEEE! I'm SO sorry for being late! It's just been so crazy here. The good news is that I'm in the course I want! The bad news? Too embarrassing! I'll probably only upload once a week, every Sunday! I'm so sorry! :C**

* * *

A weird package had arrived for Misery.

Everyone in the Great Hall stared at the huge parcel adorned with lots and lots of stamps. Ruby decided that they should wait for Misery to finish bandaging herself before they tore it open. Impatience was creeping into them and they began fidgeting. Iris was pacing back and forth, anxiously waiting until she made herself dizzy from darting back and forth. Frank and Len began to play rock, scissors, paper with each other, until all games halted when Len insisted that if you clenched your fist, you are forming the shape of a stone, not a rock. Thus, they were squabbling in harsh whispers. Poe began to tap his wings against the wooden boards, muttering about how his creative juices had stopped flowing. Scaredy Bat was hiding under the rug, fearful that a swarm of hideous monsters would attack them. Ruby, seated in one of the velvet chairs beside the fire, began whistling to entertain herself. Doom Kitty, perched high above Ruby's head on the back of the chair, was fast asleep. Whenever Ruby was looking in another direction, Skull Boy would surreptitiously poke at the box with his remote control.

When the grandfather clock chimed seven times, the thicks doors of the Great Hall opened slightly. Much to everyone's relief, Misery shuffled in, with her usual exhausted expression.

"Misery! You're here! Finally! We can open the box now!" Iris squealed until she saw Misery's weird attire. Everyone mouths popped open when they notice Misery's wardrobe change.

She had covered her usual drab purple dress with a green surgical gown and replaced her fingerless gloves with sterile latex polymer gloves. Instead of a veil, a scrub cap covered her long hair, and even though a surgical mask covered half of her blue face, it didn't hide Misery's determination.

"The patient is ready." Misery muttered through her mask. She whipped out a scalpel and with swift strokes, cut open the box. Suddenly, everyone's curiosity died and was replaced with mounting terror which was too much for Scaredy to bear.

With a shriek, he dashed to Ruby's lap and the perky goth immediately gave him his brown bag. As he breathed in and out into it, Ruby managed to ask,

"So, who's... er, I mean, what's inside the box?"

"Oh, remember THE DOLL?" Misery emphasized on the last two words.

Everyone knew what she was talking about. The moment she saw the beautiful doll displayed at the toy shop, she began to do odd jobs just to get the morning, enlisting their help sometimes. The glint in her eye seemed to show how obsessed she was with the doll... that was now apparently in the package.

Uncharacteristically squealing, Misery gently picked the doll and, after five seconds, began to gently stroke the beautiful doll's hair. Ruby smiled a toothy smile as she saw her friend hug the doll with a mega-watt smile on her blue face. She hadn't see Misery smile like that since the unlucky girl was chosen to be the spokeswoman for "It's a Scream Diaper Cream".

"I have the Mindy Doll!" Misery finally said.

"That's great Misery! I'm so glad to see you this happy!"

"Cool! It's so pretty!" Iris awed over the doll's delicate features.

"What can it do?" Skull Boy asked, trying to see what the fuss was. The only time a doll like Mindy would be useful is if you needed money urgently.

"Mindy can talk, drink tea and fix your boo-boos. And that's about it." Frank said, reading the tag that came along with the toy.

At that, Misery smile turned upside down,

"Mindy...can...do...anything." She

hissed, much to everyone's surprise.

As she did that, it seemed as if the clouds became darker, an ominous sign. Silence fell over the shocked gang before Ruby chirped,

"It's true. Dolls are great comfort tools. You can rant to them about anything and they will just sit there, patiently, until you've calmed down."

Misery relaxed and her low, gravelly voice returned.

"Yes. For example, today I stubbed my toe."

Poe weighed that small little incident to the other disasters Misery had to face.

"Actually, that doesn't sound that bad." He voiced his thoughts aloud.

"Then I fell into Gloomsville's river before a tree branch hit me. I managed to grab on to it and arrived on land a few hours later. With a crab on my head." Misery elaborated.

...

"You've made a valid point." Poe admitted, fiddling with his coat.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed throughout the Manor. Doom's eyes immediately flew open and she dashed into the kitchen. The sound of opening and closing cabinets was heard, followed by the clunking of pots and bowls before Ruby's feline friend reappeared, gracefully balancing a saucer on the end of her tail. Ruby giggled as she stroked Doom,

"Oh right, it's time we try out that can of gourmet kibble. That, and I made some chocolate cupcakes."

When she mentioned that, everyone seemed to peek up. Even Scaredy Bat had stopped hyperventilating, and looked up at Ruby,

"Baked by you?" He asked, his round eyes shimmering with delight.

"The most moist, luscious, large and chocolately-cupcakes in the world?" Len began to salivate as he and Frank imagined savoring the dessert.

"We even wrote a song for that!" Frank grinned, ready to strum the guitar until he saw Skull Boy rushing to the dining table.

"You're mine, cupcakes!" He chuckled.

"HEY!" Everyone exclaimed as they tried to catch up with the speedy skeleton. When Ruby had finished pouring milk on Doom's saucer and served the sassy kitty some gourmet kibble, everyone was sinking their teeth into the baked treats... except Misery.

Assuming that Misery was the last to eat the cupcakes again, Ruby opened a cabinet and reached for another basket of warm cupcakes before saying,

"Hey Misery! I've saved you a batch of the cupcakes! Would you like some?"

It was then everyone noticed Misery was shuffling towards her room. The unlucky girl was still holding the doll like it was a life preserver.

"I think I'll skip dinner. Mindy has to meet every single doll I have. They're going to be her roommates. Then, we'll watch a movie from 1890 about how one of my ancestors stubbed his toe. I call it 'Uncle Monotone's Stubbed Toe of 1890'. The title tells you half of the story." Misery said in a dramatic voice and she spread her hands across the air in front of her, as if smoothing out an imaginary banner.

Everyone choked on their snacks when they heard that.

With his single fang chattering, Scaredy asked,

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Misery?"

Strangely, his reaction was considered to be calm by everyone when Len suddenly yelled,

"Don't refuse them Misery! You'll be locked up in jail, put in the big house for liiiiiifeee!"

...

"Well, I'll put it in the cabinet, in case you get hungry later." Ruby told Misery.

Soon, when Misery entered her room flecked with cobwebs, Skull Boy and Ruby exchanged a look,

"Maybe we shouldn't have gotten that doll, Misery seems obsessed with it." He stated.

"I can't deny that but I also can't deny that Misery is happier than ever. And I don't even need to be her pancreas to know that." Ruby said, imitate Misery's low, gravelly voice perfectly for the last sentence.

"Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" Iris chuckled, gulping down her glass of milk.

* * *

"Where's Misery?"

They were back in school, but strangely, they rarely saw Misery now.

Her Saint-Johns Ambulance Brigade was cancelled and Miss Goh had informed everyone that extra physics lessons were postponed. There were no urgent matters happening in her huge family and the homework given was of an average load.

So Ruby was puzzled that Misery didn't go to the Catastrophic cafe, the gang's hang-out.

Usually, the group would meet up with Scaredy and Poe there and once everyone was settled, they usually relaxed in icy bliss thanks to the Ice Monsters, sipping their cups of coffee, tea or juices and nibbling tiny pies and sandwiches. The gang always spent an hour or so gossiping on the latest news of their classmates or teachers or cracking jokes to relieve their minds' after a full school morning's work.

"Dunno but Misery was in all of our classes, still holding on to that Mindy Doll." Frank replied, nibbling on some biscuits.

"She spent her entire recess period and study session in the Home Economics Room." Len added, drinking his apple juice.

"What could she be doing there?" Iris wondered aloud.

"Creating dresses for her dolls." Skull Boy answered, returning to the table with a fresh set of napkins and held them in front of Misery's usual seat. His eyes as wide as saucers, he tossed them away before sitting next to Ruby. As he handed her a packet of sugar, Ruby said,

"Habits are hard to break, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm always the one giving Misery lots and lots of tissue paper and you and Iris would clean her up." He agreed.

"Yes. The rest of us would clear whatever mess she made. Now, she's sewing some dresses for Mindy, getting her hair tangled in the machines probably." Scaredy Bat sighed.

"I just hope she's getting enough sleep. She looked even more tired than usual." Iris noted.

Ruby remembered that as a young girl, she had considered as a person to care for, to clothe, to deck, to dress, to undress, to redress, to teach, scold a little, to rock, to dandle, to lull to sleep, to imagine that something is some one. As Misery dreamed and chattered, making tiny outfits, and baby clothes, while sewing little gowns, and corsages and bodices, Ruby knew that it would be like asking Misery to give up the apple crumble from her... well, one of her ancestors.

So, Ruby just sighed and sipped her tea.

"If the situation worsens, we'll have yo talk to her. Maybe she would stop. There's a History test coming up and Misery is probably hunkering down to prepare for it. She is the top student for History in her level." Ruby decided.

Of course, Ruby was wrong.


	3. Sorry, the troubles! :P

**_Doll__ Face_**

**AN: WAHOO! I posted a chapter!**

* * *

Mdm Ragon was enumerating the number of sins that Misery's class was collectively responsible for. All throughout that, the entire class sat cringing in silence.

Suddenly, she launched into a tirade about pupils who failed to hand in their assignments. At that, Misery turned pale as she remember that the last assignment Mdm Ragon had given them was at home, untouched... right next to Mindy.

As the dragon lady continued to breathe fire, Misery's fears escalated. She could not imagine the tongue-lashing she would get if Mdm Ragon realized that she was one of the 'irresponsible scum of the earth' whom she was scathing about. Misery was an outstanding pupil in History, earning praises from the reptile-teacher. As the reality of Mdm Ragon's opinion of her would come crashing down once she found out about her forgetfulness hit Misery, she started perspiring in fear. Everything around her took on a dazzling brightness. Her head started pounding, as if there was someone using a large sledgehammer to knock at it. Her mind swirled in a confusion of numbing fear and her hands started to turn clammy. The banshee kept looking at the floor, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible in hopes that the teacher would ignore her. As usual, Lady Luck was frowning at Misery. Her booming voice sliced the air to find its mark cowering in fear. The teacher repeated her question about where Misery's assignment was in a gentler tone, seeing that the unlucky girl was her top student. Misery's harried mind quickly latched on to that softened tone and blurted,

"But I handed it in last week! It was not like I had forgotten to do it because I discovered that Mindy could act really well and I decided to put on a puppet show at midnight!"

The few seconds the she-beast took to respond were some of the longest in Misery's life.

"Yes... I should have known that. My apologies." Then, she proceeded to unleash her terror on another unfortunate soul, much to Misery's relief and Frank and Len's shock.

"That didn't just happen... did it?" Len gulped.

"Len... I just don't get it." 'I' had finally replaced the 'you' as they stared in disbelief at the blue girl, serenading her newfound friend,

"Oh Mindy, you doth teach the torches to burn bright! You can stop a fight! The only thing you can't do is to... er... stop someone from having bad luck! You can make her smile though!" She started, not even making a sound as huge dictionary landed on her foot. She just continued smiling... creepily until the bell rang. She carefully tucked Mindy into her bag before going to the next class.

"We gotta tell Ruby this."

* * *

It turns out, that the brothers weren't the only ones to talk about Misery's obsession when Ruby returned from another Writers' meeting. Soon, they were all, except Skull Boy, seated in front of the fire place and when Ruby had finished gulping down her lemonade, a string of complaints came from everyone's mouth.

Iris was the first to rant.

The cyclops and her flying worm, Squig, were planning to explore a dry dessert under the blazing sun, with sand dunes as far as the eye could see and strange wild animals such as poisonous snakes and spiders as huge as chickens! Best of all, she and Squig would drink cactus juice and fry eggs by the heat of the blistering sun.

Unfortunately, Iris had to cancel the entire adventure when she found out that Misery was using Squig as a 'Flying Table, Tennis Court and Trampoline' for the athletic Mindy.

Carefully coming into the room full of irritation, Scaredy Bat went next.

Everyone knew that Scaredy Bat enjoyed going to the library to browse through publications and paperbacks. It was always his habit to sit at a quiet, 'not-so-scary' corner of the library with a friend and enjoy a tranquil afternoon reading.

He had asked Misery to accompany him to the library but she had forgotten all about it and as a result, the tranquil afternoon was destroyed as he heard someone humming a tune. Apparently, that 'someone' was Misery, trying to lull Mindy to sleep since Frank and Len nearly killed her dolls with their 'loud music'.

Of course, when the bat told his entire story, RIP wasn't too happy and immediately reported Misery's failure to hand in assignments, much to everyone's astonishment. Nobody expected Misery to lie to the teacher that admired her.

Poe grumbled about how the supply closet that Ruby filled with bottles of ink for Poe's quill were crammed with dresses instead, that were Mindy's size.

Last but not least, Doom Kitty.

Doom had to pantomime what had happened to her, though everyone knew that she was angry. Her fur was standing at attention and annoyance was radiating off her. Doom took a deep breath. First, she curled up and closed her eyes, to try to show that she had been asleep just a few minutes ago. Suddenly, she tried to shape her face into a morose expression, obviously imitating Misery. She pretended to shuffle from place to place, with something in her hands, all the while acting as if she was picking a number of objects. Finally, Doom showed her ball of yarn... or at least what was left of it. It was nearly sewn into a hat, save for a few strings here and there.

Unfortunately, most of them didn't understand her, even as they crowded around the annoyed kitty now, anxiously making out her actions.

"You were sewing a hat out of Misery's yarn?" Iris guessed.

Doom shook her head, letting out an exasperated sigh. Trembling violin chords were heard.

"You were sleep-knitting until Misery stepped on your tail?" Frank asked.

The sassy kitty rolled her eyes and mimed what happened again.

Ruby gasped,

"Misery picked your ball of yarn while you were sleeping and she turned your toy into a hat, just for Mindy?!"

Doom nodded enthusiastically before snapping her tail. Suddenly, Scaredy had produced a wine glass with milk and handed it over to Doom, who delicately sipped it. She gave it back to Scaredy who immediately placed it in a bucket of ice.

"Well, we have to take action now... wait a minute, where's Skull Boy?"

"Here!" He called and everyone couldn't hold their gasps of shock.

Skull Boy was still in his usual attire, sanded jeans and a black turtleneck, his bones were okay... except for his humerus bone. A blue bandage was wrapped around it, making it look like Skulls had a piece of blue skin, and Ruby immediately rushed to his side, the others following her.

"Skull Boy, are you okay?" She gasped.

"Yeah, thanks you guys but we skeletons usually heal fractures quite quickly." He said, removing the bandage to reveal his intact bones.

"What terrifying happened to you?" Scaredy Bat shivered.

"Well..."

"Wait, is it because of a certain doll?" Poe arched an eyebrow.

"She didn't even use the remote control. I didn't even know she could drive." Skull Boy admitted, holding up a detached steering wheel.

Ruby could only shake her head.


	4. The test

_**Doll Face**_

**AN: I do not own Ruby Gloom. Sad, but true. *sniff***

* * *

"So, why did you call us here?"

Ruby was already putting away the skillets as she tried to form the words she needed to say when Misery asked that seemingly harmless question.

The moment had arrived and Scaredy began to tremble so violently that Poe had to take him aside.

Frank and Len dutifully placed the teapot in front of Misery while Iris scooped up bowls of mushroom soup from Ruby's hands. Trying not to juggle them and begin a circus act, the cyclops distributed them on the table. Skull Boy finally set the salt shaker near Misery's bowl. He knew Misery would try to avoid any salt, lest she wanted to clot her blood vessels but something told him that he would be the only one eating the soup he and Ruby made. So might as well add his favorite seasoning. That's what Damien would do anyway.

**(Pass the salt, please Skull Boy! I think he likes salt with his soup... I do! :P)**

The friends could not decide whether to maintain uncomfortable eye contact or perform awkward eye-darting.

"Er... well, we can see that you're happy with Mindy..." Ruby began with slight hesitation as she took a seat directly beside the banshee.

"Happy? That doesn't describe it! I'm so much more ecstatic than the time I won a free toaster! No, as exuberant as the day we became friends!" Misery giggled uncharacteristically.

...

Recognizing that the situation was about to degenerate into something very ugly very quickly, Iris abruptly surged to her feet.

"Oh dear. There's not enough butter on the baguette. Let me go get some more!" She made a desperate grab for the nearly full bowl and tried to dash from the dining room to the kitchen, only to have Ruby snatch the sleeve of her dress just when Iris was about to skedaddle.

"Don't worry. We can do this. And by we, I mean me and maybe Skull Boy." Ruby whispered as she shot the bewildered skeleton a pleading look. Skull Boy could only frown before he and Ruby turned to face the blue girl.

The moment they saw her smiling face and heard mirrors cracking in the background, it seemed as if the happy sight stilled their tongues. Ruby was incredibly brave that day when she went forward and gently grasped Misery's hands, coaxing in a low whisper that only Len could hear with his pointy ears and when he cringed, everyone thought it was bad news. Their suspicions proved to be true when Misery pushed Ruby away and began wringing her hands in fear. Shock filled her rheumy eyes.

"But, but, I love her!" Misery wailed. As she did so, the flowers started to quake in fear, before taking their last gasp of air and drooping lifelessly. The hot tea became ice tea, complete with ice cubes and a little umbrella. Car alarms sounded from a distance.

"We can see that Misery. We can also see that Mindy's making forget about us, school and everything that you used to care about. You have even hurt some of us." Ruby sighed, gesturing to Skull Boy who was still looking at a picture of his beautiful car, the epitome of 'awesomeness' as he said. He sniffed slightly and whimpered. She then eyed Doom Kitty who was now looking at her wooly hat. With the menacing look in her eyes and her drawn out claws, Doom seemed to want to rip the hat into pieces.

As Doom and Skull Boy carried out their pity parties, Frank and Len wheeled in a huge canvas sheet and with swift strokes of the brush in their hands, they crudely painted the ugly picture, to the point where Misery started shivering in fear... and it was not because of how horrible they were in drawing.

Timidly, Ruby asked,

"Does that mean you're gonna get rid of her?"

Swallowing a lump, Misery's expression became as dark as the sky outside.

"If I fail my History test tomorrow, then I'll stop."

Ruby turned to her friends who were lost in thoughts. Doom was the only one who responded and all she did was shrug her shoulders.

"Ok, but if you fail, we'll need to get rid of the doll, permanently, for your own good."

"Well, at least the roses Ruby received today won't go to waste. Mindy loves those flowers. It'll be perfect for her tiny tombstone." Misery sniffed as she scooped the doll into her arms. Mindy began to utter gibberish as Misery shuffled away.

"Who created that horrible doll?" Poe asked as he dragged Scaredy unconscious body into the room. He lightly placed the bat on a pillow before perching on a nearby armrest.

"Who wants to get a tombstone for a doll?" Frank wondered.

"A better question would be, 'WHO GAVE RUBY THOSE ROSES?!' !" Skull Boy shrieked just as Scaredy Bat came to. Promptly, the bat fainted again.

Ruby caught a glimpse of Misery carrying huge, thick books into her room before the red-haired girl's pink cheeks adopted the shameful color of vermillion.

'At least Misery is studying now...' She thought to herself as she chuckled nervously to a furious over-protective skeleton.

* * *

Misery walked cautiously down the stairs, trying not to drop anything, especially Mindy.

She had to study, for her baby. **(Ok, that was just so weird) **

The walls along the basement steps were cracked, The pictures on the walls had fallen a long time ago, and they laid broken on the cold floor. The stairs themselves were uneven, and with every step, Misery was anticipating a fall any second. As she expected, she tripped and flailed uselessly for balance, bracing herself for an impact…

…that never came. Somehow, Mindy had conjured up springs and Misery landed on her and bounced up and down slightly.

"Wow, it feels as though I'm in an earthquake... and earthquakes have had a serious impact on mankind's history. Lots of my relatives and ancestors know that." The banshee muttered to herself before tossing aside the books.

* * *

Misery bent over her desk, her eyes squinting at the words on the page in front of her.

"Oracle bones were used by some people... oh, I know I've studied this... or was it earthquakes?" Misery muttered, rubbing her bleary eyes. She had stayed up all night, cramming every piece of knowledge she could find in her history textbook into her brain.

Yet, her mind was blank, save for the omnipresent rain cloud in it.

In frustration, she threw her pen down and let out a puff of irritation. A quick survey around showed that the rest of the class were busy scribbling down the answers to the History test. Even Frank and Len had stopped bickering with each other and were focused on their task.

It was soon apparent to Misery that she, the history buff, was the only one facing difficulty with it.

Just then, a prodigious yawn escaped from her mouth. Her eyes drooped.

"Perhaps a nap of five minutes will help." Misery assured herself and laid her head on the desk.

A loud, clarion voice shook her out of her sweet dreams,

"You have five minutes to complete the test!"

Misery shot awake instantaneously. She could not believe her ears. How could time have simply flown by?!

Frantically, she grabbed the earlier discarded pen and tried to salvage whatever she could of the History test. To her consternation, the answers still eluded her. The urgency of the present situation did nothing to calm her frenzied mind. Her usually trusty last-minute studying had totally deserted her this time.

With her entire being encompassed with more dread than usual, she approached the teacher's table to hand in her test paper. She was done for. There was no way she going to escape the eagle... er... dragon-sharp eyes of Mdm Ragon with an almost blank script. Mustering the last of her courage, she stepped forward.


	5. The bottle

_**Doll**** Face**_

**AN: Let me start off by saying...**

**SORRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!**

**Ok, that's all I have to say other than my usual lines, which are;**

**1) Please review and help me improve!**

**2) I do not own Ruby Gloom**

* * *

It was now report card day and the little, yet lethal slips of paper were in envelopes on each desk when Misery's class returned from another horrible lunch. Most of her classmates sat right down, took their report cards out of their envelopes, and either started to frown or smile. Misery however, just sat there and stared at the envelope as it were a bomb about to go off. There were A's, B's, C's and a few D's in the class. The D's apparently came from Misery as she picked up the report card and ever so slowly, drew it out of the envelope. It was a clean sweep. Misery had gotten a terrible grade in every subject. Then, the bell rang, signaling the end of school and Frank and Len whooped before shooting up like a rocket, the first students to the door. Not only was school over, they had gotten quite a good report card. Two C's, two B's and one A! Misery, however, was lost in the crowd of bustling high school students. She looked straight ahead and walked like a robot. Seeing Misery's expression, the brother's ecstasy fizzled before they went pass the school's great iron gates and clambered on the bus.

"Misery's walking like a zombie." Len whispered, stating the obvious as they plonked themselves beside the unlucky girl, who was sitting across the aisle.

Frank chose not to get frustrated at his brother and just mouthed,

"Got... a... bad... report card."

The bus drove away from school as they rode in silence.

* * *

"Misery, I hate to say this but, since you've failed all of your tests, even History..." Ruby began hesitantly.

The moment they had arrived at the Manor, Ruby had asked to see Misery's report card and as she scanned it, a tiny frown formed on her lips. Seeing that, everyone slowly backed away and went to another room.

Ruby hated breaking her friend's already scarred heart but it had to be said. Misery had no choice but to get rid of Mindy. As everyone listened from the other room, they were surprised to hear Misery finishing the sentence,

"I gotta give Mindy away, huh?"

It was really just a statement, not much of a question.

Ruby nodded slowly. There was still a small smile on her face though and Misery knew she was going to chant her mantra. She was right.

"Look on the bright side, Misery. We can all help you. Mdm Ragon has allowed you to drop your lowest test score at the end of the semester. That, and once you throw out Mindy's things and herself away, we'll all chip in to buy the latest emergency kit." Ruby chirped as she silently retrieved Misery's 'friend'.

"WAIT!" Misery shrieked and looked as if she was going to tackle Ruby. The perky goth's smile slightly faltered as her eyes focused on the banshee, concerned.

"Misery, I know this is probably the worst thing's that has happened to you, even worse then the time you were attacked by wolves and... er.. other things... but this is for your own good. And others. Honest." Ruby placed a comforting hand on Misery's sagging shoulders.

"I know that, but I, want... no... need to give Mindy a proper funeral." Misery croaked.

At this, everyone looked at the floor nervously, knowing they were the reasons why Misery was more miserable than usual. Ruby tried her best not to sigh and just nodded her head,

"Of course. I will get some of your relatives to come over and help you and I'll prepare the... coffin." Ruby hesitated.

"Well, since her will is up-to-date, and I've booked a place at the local graveyard, I'll just need to get the rotting chrysanthemums I've prepared for her gravestone from my drawers. It might take a while though, seeing that I can't remember where it was. It could be near the first-aid kits or the huge piece of armor."

"That's very kind of you Misery, thinking of your friend's well-being. You're doing the right thing." Ruby proudly announced as Misery shuffled to her room.

"I know." Misery sighed, before climbing down the steep stairs.

...

"Well, that went well, didn't it? I told you, Misery is a strong girl, she has to be with all the bad luck she attracts." Ruby grinned as the others slowly crept into the Great Hall.

Just as the others opened their mouths to echo similar sentiments, however, the quiet evening was shattered by Misery lamenting refrain of,

"Oh why do I have such horrid bad luck, Mindy?! I know my great, great, great aunt said that but why?!"

Everyone traded wry glances at each other before Skull Boy dropped his skull forward with a chagrined sigh. His skull popped out and dropped to the floor but he didn't care.

"Spoke too soon." He groaned before Ruby fixed his skull to his body tightly.

"I guess, considering Misery's love for Mindy, we'll have to at least help with the funeral." She declared with a grim grin as she laid out the time-table for the funeral planning.

Once that was done, she bristled into the kitchen and before long, the 'clang' of bowls could be heard as it penetrated through the walls. Skull Boy shuffled to the storeroom and threw some towels at Iris and Doom. The skeleton then raised a broom and moved it across the floor, as if he was mowing the lawn. A bristle of the broom brushed past Scaredy's wing and the young bat yelped, startled and frightened as he jumped into the bowl of water Doom had just laid out to dampen the cloth, causing the water to be displaced. Doom narrowly escaped the water droplets and ran head-first into Iris who dropped her towel and slipped on it, colliding with Poe.

As the catastrophe started to unfold, Frank and Len went inside the storeroom to find a large plastic bag to store the garbage.

It was pretty normal, considering that we're talking about this gang, right?

* * *

With a humming of a tune, Ruby was just removing a hot batch of cookies from the oven while balancing a phone idly between her shoulder and left cheek, casually letting the warm cookies cool on the windowsill. Misery had mentioned that Mindy loved Ruby's baking. Ruby began spreading sprinkles all over them as she finalized the funeral with Poppy over the phone in a soft voice,

"Yes, the funeral is to be held in a large white tent in the backyard. I know not many dolls... ok, not a single doll has ever been honored with a real service, but Mindy means the world to Misery and my friends mean the world to me. I just want her to cherish the memories. Frank and Len have even agreed to perform a soothing musical number to strengthen the comfortable aura. Yup, the loud-music lovers, RIP."

A muffled giggle was heard from the phone before Ruby sang,

"Ok, thanks Poppy!"

She ended the call and placed the phone in its original position before she opened the refrigerator and produced a bottle of milk. Baking sure was tiring and she needed a drink for her thirst. Ruby didn't see notice that the milk was sparkling as she gulped down the contents. She hummed her approval before she looked at her list. It was time to get Misery.

Just when she was climbing up the small flight of stairs with the milk in her hand, prickles of goosebumps broke across her nape. Her eyes sprang alert instantaneously as a numbing sensation took over her body. The weird feeling caused her to drop the milk bottle and let it roll on the floor to some dark corner. As it did, she caught a glimpse of the bolded words written on it,

"Paralysis may occur for 30 minutes if the content is swallowed in huge amounts. It is good for calming the nerves though."

"Scaredy must have bought this. I guess he was drinking too much tea and he was so sick of it, he wanted another way to soothe his frazzled nerves." Ruby thought to herself and tried to voice them out but no words escaped her mouth.

She could not talk either.

'Well, there is a silver lining. The bottle said that the effect will wear off in thirty minutes. That's when Poppy will come and Misery would be ready. Hopefully." She tried to smile in hopes of cheering herself up but failed to do. Her cheek didn't even twitch. Paralysis prevented perkiness. (AN: Whoop! Alliteration!)

Just then, the rockers came in with pinched noses. A foul odor wafted through the air and entered Ruby's nostrils. She would have wrinkled her nose if it could move. The brothers paused at the paralyzed Ruby,

"WOAH! That doll looks exactly like Ruby!" Len gasped in astonishment.

"Hey, you're right. Do you think Misery was creating a Ruby doll." Frank wondered aloud, as Len fingered with Ruby's hair. It was too soft and he showed his surprise,

"Man, her hair is crazy soft! Like, like, I dunno! Ruby's hair! Skull Boy has said how many times that he liked how soft it was!"

Ruby felt a rush of joy when she realized how well her new conditioner was working. Now that they mentioned it, she realized Skull Boy always seized a chance to play with a tendril or two...

As Ruby went into a daydream, she didn't hear the rest of Frank and Len conversation until these words escaped Frank's mouth,

"Ok, enough about the scary resemblance between Misery's red-haired doll and our red-haired doll. We gotta throw it out. It's way too bulky."

If Ruby eyes could widen, they would be as huge as saucers. With ease, Frank and Len simply picked Ruby up as if she was the doll they believed she was. She tried to make some parts of her move, but it was useless as Frank and Len dragged the huge garbage bag and hoisted Ruby over their shoulders, whistling in not-so-perfect harmony as they ventured into a lane.

By the time they neared the end of the deserted lane, Ruby had stopped struggling and just focused on NOT vomiting. The path smelled like rotten eggs. She ventured a glance into the desolate and dark alley. Paint was peeling from the decrepit walls on both sides of the alley. Rainwater from the recent downpour trickled down the pipes into the drain below. Cigarette buds, discarded bottles and rubbish if all sorts choked the drain, causing a minor overflow in the drainage system. Ruby could just make out the sight of a dumpster in the dim light shining from a single bulb.

Then, Frank and Len dumped the huge bag aside and delicately placed Ruby beside it. Ruby would have puked there and then if she wasn't so terrified that the conjoined twins were now running towards the house, exclaiming something about delicious cookies.

* * *

About an hour later, the house was spick and span. The dust bunnies had agreed to go to the nearby Old Furniture Restaurant until the funeral was over. Apparently, Misery had forgotten to feed them and when Doom found them with a feather duster, they were ready to eat everything in the house until Doom stopped them. Now, the polished glass windows sparkled like diamonds and there was not a speck of dust on the furniture. Everyone was weary and exhausted like construction workers who had labored for a day.

Well, except for Iris of course.

"It's fun when you get to use your towels as soap-skates! I think I'm the fastest person in the world." She whooped as she twirled briefly in the air before landing near Poe's seat. His monocles popped out as he watched Iris preform more fantastic tricks.

"I must say, Iris. You are very graceful, even compared to some of the best ice skaters at Oxford... or... er... soap-skates. May I try?"

"Sure Poe!" She giggled, as she unfastened the straps securing her feet to the brushes. She tightly wrapped them around Poe's talons and as he tried to gain his balance, Iris warned him,

"You might not get it the first few times though. I knocked down so many objects that Skull Boy decided to just sweep them into the storeroom."

"Actually, that's cus Frank and Len were already throwing away the garbage and they aren't here now." Skull Boy panted as he sank into a nearby chair.

His breathing rate only increased when Poe zoomed past him. He wasn't the only one bemused as Iris' jaw dropped while Scaredy Bat was slightly peeping. Poe could get injured because of his neck-breaking speed on the brushes.

Yet, Poe easily weaved his way around the furniture and ornaments. Eventually, everyone was 'oohing' and 'ahhing' at his sudden possession of gracefulness. Doom applauded by tapping her tail furiously against the shiny floor when Poe stopped near the thick doors of the Great Hall and bowed. The moment he got out of his 'skates' however, he tripped on a shoe with flames adorning its sides.

"Man, Poe, you really have to watch out. How do you ever survive?" Len asked. Poe could barely squawk his fury when Iris yelled,

"Ok Ruby! We've finished our cleaning duties! Are you baking those delicious chocolate chip cookies with walnuts?"

Silence.

"Ruby?" Skull Boy cried.

No reply.

"Olie, olie, walnuts?" Scaredy Bat gulped. That was the thing Boo-Boo always said whenever the ghost needed to find his quill.

Ruby wasn't there.

As everyone began crying for Ruby or tried contacting her, Doom dashed into the kitchen. It was the first place you would look for Ruby, a very passionate baker.

Ruby wasn't there.

She rummaged through the drawers, nearly yanked open the cabinet doors and scanned the insides the refrigerator. She left no stone unturned, literally. She uprooted the potted plant nearby even when it was growling. All she could find was a weird bottle filled with milk. Sighing, she was ready to drink every drop of the milk until she saw the bolded words.

Oh no, not her smart owner right? Then again, Ruby was probably dead-beat after the immense baking session.

Her fur rising in alarm, she zoomed to the Great Hall where Iris was talking on the phone, the others crowding around her.

"She just called you, Poppy? Really? Oh! Is she ordering a beautiful bouquet of dead roses? Or is it dead lilies? I love every single flower! Well, not really, I'm not a big fan of chrysanthemums, dead or alive." Iris babbled until Skull Boy snatched the phone from her. Iris whined her disapproval but the skeleton ignored and in a suddenly crisp and albeit, suggestive voice, he said,

"Poppy, sweetie, we really need you to call us if you've seen our sweet friend, okay? My possible great, great, great, great grandfather, Damien Desperado will be rolling in his grave and we're already preparing a grave for the doll. Will you please do that for free?"

There was a high-pitched squeal on the phone and a resonating 'thud' sounded from the speakers. Pleased that he was following his fast (and flirtatious) relative from head to toe, he ended the call. He quickly dropped his smug smile when Doom began frantically waving her arms to get everyone's attention.

Immediately, she began acting out what had possibly happened to Ruby... of course, you can guess their silly guesses as Doom pretended to be holding the milk bottle and becoming as still as a statue.

"You want to play 'Simon Says'?" Iris asked.

"You are paralyzed with fear?" Scaredy Bat gasped, turning around to see if there was any 'horrible monster' nearby like, oh say it isn't so, a telephone, with its shrill ringing.

"Or awe at the new car I'm building?" Skull Boy grinned.

"You want the milk? Well, I guess we can open it." Poe shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the bottle out of Doom's tiny paws. Now that her paws were empty, she could slap herself. Her tail was getting too bruised these days...

But the most 'stupid' guess had to be from Len,

He gasped, "Ruby drank this milk which causes paralysis and we, Frank and Len have thrown her out, mistaking her to be a doll?"

Doom nearly strangled him there and then ... wait a minute... no way...

Soon, Doom was hugging him(and Frank) tightly,

"Oh, Ruby likes a boy?"

Affection vanished, replaced with anger. She thwacked the blur Len( no Frank) and jumped off them while Skull Boy attempted to explain things,

"No, you guys! In fact, you threw a paralyzed Ruby out!" Skull Boy exclaimed.

Everyone could only gape in disbelief until suddenly, fear proppeled their legs to go into the dumpster.


	6. The plan

_**Doll Face**_

******AN: I AM SO SORRY! My exams are finally over and studying was worth it! I... er.., nevermind, just read the story below and please reveiw to help me improve... and once again, sorry! ;C**

**PS: May be delayed even further by Drama club. I'm working on the Teacher Day's script. You may now kill me unless you're satisfied with the two sneak-peeks...**

* * *

They, meaning everyone but a scared Scaredy and a pampered Poe, rummaged through the dustbins but they found nothing except Misery's test papers with big fat Ds, some burnt dresses, broken mirrors, and other remnants of Misery's bad luck. They left, defeated and dirty.

All Poe did was check his pocket watch, and check the seconds ticking by, reminding the others of the time every few minutes, like right now.

"The time is now 12 o'clock..."

"Poe! We get it! The garbage has been picked up, along with Ruuuuuuuby!" Len whined.

"And it's our fault!" Frank sobbed.

"It's my fault! I should have warned Ruby about the milk! It was supposed to be for me! I committed a crime! Please! Put me in the frightening big house! Lock me there for lifeeee!" Scaredy wailed.

Soon, their lamenting cries for Ruby were mingled with squabbles of who was at fault.

Before they could argue further, they heard a voice.

"Mindy's funeral is starting soon... wait, where's Ruby?"

Everyone froze and whispered in prayerful litany as they pivoted slowly on their heels, hoping not to find what they expected they would.

There was Misery, in a navy blue dress that fell just below her knees. It tied at the waist with a plain black sash. Other than that, nothing else was even changed yet the others began to tremble as violently as Scaredy when he was 'attacked' by a tiny fly.

Immediately, Doom pushed Iris forward and the usually brave girl briefly stumbled before she shuffled her feet nervously.

"Er... well, she was baking those delicious muffins. You know, the crazy scrumptious chocolate ones with blueberries? Oh, and inside those muffins is cream heaven! Seriously, when you sink your teeth into them, along with a glass milk, you're on the road to Flavor-ville! You know, we had them just a few days when you were..."

"RUBY HAS BEEN PARALYZED BY SOME WEIRD MILK AND WE ACCIDENTALLY THREW HER AND NOW SHE'S PROBABLY AT THE DUMPSTER!" Frank yelled frustratedly.

"What?! But, but...! Oh no, this is all of my fault. I mean, bad luck follows me but this has never happened since my great, great, oh, you get what I mean! We have to save her!" Misery gasped.

"How? Can we even UN-paralyze her?" Skull Boy wondered aloud.

"Oh, the effect wears off after 30 minutes." Scaredy Bat explained calmly, finally finished with hyperventilating into his brown bag.

That was all they needed to hear.

* * *

Skull Boy quickly readjusted the rearview mirror and tightened his seatbelt. He smirked and winked at his passengers, particularly, the females,

"Allacciare le cinture di sicurezza, per favore, a meno che non si vuole morire. Tenete conto che, se è così, non possiamo salvare Miss Ruby Gloom."

(Fasten your seatbelts, please, unless you want to die. Mind you, if you so, we can't save Miss Ruby Gloom.)

"Er... ok... wait, was Damien Italian?" Poe wondered.

Too late to ask.

With a swift rotation of the joy stick, the car swung violently to the right, the force causing the vehicle to slide up on two wheels. The tires squealed and screeched in protest against the tar road. Before they could stop it, Frank and Len were flung against the door, their faces and hands pressed against the window and they seemed to have attached themselves there. Their cheek ballooned out on the glass like old gum on pavement. As they were in those weird positions, the car suddenly began to transform. A glass dome covered them completely. Fins suddenly appeared on each of the doors. Oxygen masks suddenly appeared and Misery didn't even have time to admire their good quality before they were thrust into the air and splashed into the water beneath the house. The strength of the dive had caused the car to bounce up, and the force caused everyone to return to their original positions, painfully ripping Frank and Len's skin off the glass. Strangely, they began to move in the water, catching up to even the weird sea creatures who stared at them in shock. The gang was too befuddled to even ask Skull Boy why they were traveling under water except Iris who bouncing up and down on her seat,

"Oh my gosh! This is so awesome! Hey, can I borrow the car later?"

Skull Boy growled like some feral animal.

"Ok, I was just asking." She huffed.

It seemed like an eternity before the car leaped from the water and landed on the concrete wall that capped the riverbank. Apparently, the river made a lazy bend past streets of small factories and warehouses, flanked by tall apartment blocks. Many of the shops were closed but from those that remained open, came sounds of machinery and activity.

This was the place.

The place where Ruby could possibly be.

As they exited the car, Misery noticed the doll factory,

"Oh yes! I forgot! If the garbage collectors see a doll or toy in the dustbin, they are required to send it to the factory... where it will be wiped clean, dried, clothed and packaged."

* * *

Which was what Ruby was going through right now.

The garbage collectors had cooed over how beautiful the 'doll' was and one nearly wanted to keep her until the other reminded her the rules. Ruby was so uncomfortable not moving that she only caught snippets of their conversation, something about a doll factory... and they had dumped her there. Immediately, the workers started to do their magic by whipping out cloths and wiping her everywhere, even her face. Just as they were about to clothe her however, a worker gasped,

"My goodness, the clothes are so beautiful. And the doll is relatively clean. Oh, and her hair is so nice!"

The others muttered in agreement and just lifted her... into what looked like a coffin to Ruby.

And darkness surrounded Ruby, not in a good way, unfortunately.

* * *

"Ok, I'll call for some help, and if help can't get to Ruby in time, you guys have to. Poe, Scaredy, come with me." Skull Boy announced.

"Got it." Everyone else chimed as Poe perched himself on Skull Boy's shoulders and Scaredy clung on to Skull Boy's feet. The skeleton barely managed to move himself to the car, what with all the extra weight and uncomfortableness of having a bat hugging you too tightly. The only thing they left was the scent of burning rubber.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Iris declared as they raced into the factory only to realize that they were too late... Ruby was...

* * *

**HAHA! Joking! Really, it's still K-plus! T only for death.**

******Here's the real one below...**

* * *

Luckily for the rest of the gang, no one was around. Doom pointed to an open window. A minute later, they were inside the factory. They could smell sawdust, detergent and perfume in the air. Everyone could see mountains of dresses, arms, legs, and other body parts in one corner. A worker would grab an entire set, put them together before passing the assembled body to another worker, who would decorate the doll, armed with a bag of glitter pens, stickers, markers and other art supplies. With skill and precision, they would give a whole new, fabulous look to the once-plain doll. Finally, they delicately put them into boxes beautifully decorated.

Engrossed with their task, the workers didn't notice the awe-struck gang but the gang did notice that high above them, was a metal walkway that ran around the entire room. Doom waved them over to a ladder.

After a few incidents, particularly Misery nearly slipping and the others quickly grabbing her before she accidentally collided with a worker from above, they heard a sound. Footsteps were coming up from somewhere up above.

Frank and Len were so startled that they accidentally bumped against a wall and their eyes widened as a section of the wall slid open to reveal a long, dark staircase.

"Oh..." Iris gasped.

"My..." Len took a sharp intake of breath.

Doom brought her tail against her cheek, slapping it loudly, as if to show her shock.

"It's too dark to see anything." Frank notes as he stared into the peculiar passageway.

"Have a source of light now." Misery declared, carrying a glowing skull. She was covered in soot but she was relatively intact.

"Where did you get the light?" Iris asked.

Misery replied morbidly, "I got struck by lightning while you guys were gasping crazily."

The walls were lined with bones, some intricately stacked, some that had fallen into disarray.

It was so beautiful and amazing to the gang.

"Cool, these could be dinosaur fossils." Iris squealed and nearly touched a skull when Doom rapped her knuckles with her tail, provoking a whimpering yelp from Iris.

"What's this, 'gang-up on Iris' day?" She grumbled but kept her mouth shut when Doom found that at the top of the staircase, was a trapdoor. It took her, Frank and Len to push it open and when they did, they caught glimpse of a tall man. Standing at least 1.9 meters, he towered above most men, except the giants obviously. He was running towards a brightly lit room, with a bowl of mushroom soup.

As silent as a ninja, Doom followed him, the others just right behind her. Alarm bells were ringing in her head and Doom was acting on her instincts, like her great ancestors. Luckily for them, he left the door ajar and they peeked inside through the tiny crack and their jaws dropped.

A cluster of candles casted their flickering light over the single, long table covered with immaculate white linen. The cutlery sparkled like precious gems. Servants in black coats were fussing over a man. If you could call a black bulb-eyes creature hovering in the air a man. It hissed in an unidentifiable language, its putrid breath pouring our like a long, yellow ribbon. The same, sinewy man shivered slightly as he skedaddled. A minute later, he returned with a wrapped package. Still shaking, he handed it to the monster who tore it open with its razor sharp fangs.

Everyone nearly fainted at the object inside the box.

It was Ruby, no, DOLL Ruby.

Out of the blue, the beast went from mad to glad in about 4.5 seconds and immediately snatched doll Ruby away, hugging her way too tightly that Skull Boy, if he were here, would not approve.

Misery's scarred heart sank. Ruby was in this state because of her... and her obsession with dolls. The gang had warned her so many times, but she didn't listen. The regret bit into her soul like venomous fangs. She had been bitten by poisonous snakes too many times and she was used to venom but the venom of regret was something she was very vulnerable to.

Misery's pity-party was interrupted by Iris anxiously tapping her on the shoulder.

"Misery! Misery! I have a little plan."

At that, Misery stopped berating herself and huddled with the others.

She made the mistake, and she was going to fix it, even if she got 10% more injuries than usual.

She just hoped that if the plan failed, which will probably happen, they had help. The trio should be able to handle it.

* * *

"I've called everyone. The police, the hospital, the fire brigade, the news reporters, the student body and staff of Shock School, my mother, Scaredy's mother, some of our neighbors, my step-mother..." Poe was interrupted by Skull Boy's sudden growl of frustration.

"Poe! We just needed to call the owner of the doll factory and warm him!"

"Oh, I forgot about him. Let me just ring him up." The dapper crow huffed as he re-entered the phone booth, rapidly adjusting the dial.

Scaredy Bat thought the others should be able to handle it, even without 'help'.

* * *

**_Sneak peek of next chapter just in case something else happens..._**

In that simultaneous moment when Misery grabbed Ruby's arm, a deafening blast rocked the ground. The area where the Mindy doll had occupied earlier was now a black crater!

Smokes and sparks shrouded their vision. Debris was strewn everywhere, covering every visible space with a blanket of grey ash. The pungent smell of ammonia choked their lungs as they gasped for air. Throngs of flames licked at the floors of the factory. Shrieks of the running crowd vibrated through the air as the hungry fire swallowed every combustible material in its path of destruction. People were running helter-skelter and every single person hurtled like cannons for the exits. The gang was right at the heart of the chaos and the smoke would have besieged them if they didn't have handkerchiefs with them. The frightening and ghastly sight was all it took to get the gang moving. Their hands locked in a death grip, they crouched low to avoid the toxic smoke.

The incessant wailing of sirens was heard. A crimson red fire truck was battling the obdurate flames.

* * *

**_Sneak peek of other story_**

She was perhaps in her late teens, clad in skinny jeans and a blue camisole. Her straight hair was almost dyed green, although there were streaks of black skillfully distributed. The heavy make-up she wore emphasized the redness of her lips and her overly-plucked eyebrows were drawn together, her beauty spot bobbing up and down furiously. She stared at her phone angrily before snapping it closed. Obviously, she was irritated.

"Sheesh, who the heck is that walking mannequin?" Iris whispered to Ruby.

Ruby smiled before quickly changing the subject,

"Never judge a book by its cover, Iris, it's the inside that counts."

"I dunno, that girl feels... well, I don't get a good vibe..." Frank left those words hung in the air.

"So, how was the adventure camp?" Ruby tried to change the subject but nobody paid attention.

The 'weird girl' was studying the menu very carefully, her head moving from dish to price, before beckoning a reluctant waiter. Once she placed her order, he gave her a basket of assorted bread, and instead of spreading the jam and butter served with the warm treat, she dug a packet from her small purse. Then, the 'weird girl' had proceeded to smother the bread pieces with the weird, green substance from the packet.

Scaredy nearly gagged.

"Everyone has their own tastes." Ruby giggled, glad to see the girl devouring her bread.

When her eggs, served sunny-side up, were delivered to her, she didn't bother to thank the waiter. Instead, she immediately grabbed her knife and fork and tucked into her meal. Rolling his eyes, the waiter left her be.

The gang didn't. They watched her with weird fascination as she carved out the white of the eggs and shoveled them into her mouth with the razor sharp knife. Len was surprised that she didn't slit her mouth.

Next, she balanced a whole yolk on the knife and popped it into her mouth. She was still chewing when _it_ happened.

At precisely two o'clock in the afternoon, the bell laced on the door rang again and a cold rush of air swept through the store. Grinning like a maniac, the girl skipped to the door. By then, Ruby had given up on persuading her friends to just enjoy their tea and wait for Skull Boy when she heard their sharp intakes of breath. Raising her eyebrow, she looke at her friends, her eyes alight with concern.

"What's wrong?" She asked and turned to face whatever they were seeing.

It happened so soon. Instead of heeding her own warning, she stared at the girl, kissing a boy.

A skeleton boy.

With emerald green eyes, wearing a black turtleneck and sanded jeans.

Much to everyone's disappointment, Ruby had her head bowed, and said nothing to her childhood friend. She simply took the slip of paper Iris had left for her before going out of the cafe.


	7. The end

_**Doll Face**_

**AN: Ok, do you guys remember the tiny expert of the new story? Well, sad to say, the new story isn't even going to feature the expert because it will probably only appear in... well, when I think it's time. Right now, it feels that if I post the new story, it will be too rushed and I am trying to write based on Ruby Gloom episodes. **

**So the next one will revolve around Frank and Len and... drum-roll please...!**

**SKELLY-T!**

***Crick, crick, crick! Crick, crick, crick!***

**Anyway, sorry, and... please review to help me improve. :D**

**PS: Sneak peek at the end of the story!**

* * *

The plan was really simple. Don't believe me? Look at the instructions written in Iris' chicken scrawl;

**1) We emerge from our hiding pl**_aces_

_2) We **say **some heroic_ li_nes._

**_3) We trip _**_everyone._

_4)_ We _grab Ruby _and _escape_

So, as they say, the simplest plans usually worked, but it was not 100% perfect. Would the gang fail?

Well, they executed the first and second steps properly, except for Frank and Len when they bellowed out the most cheesiest line ever,

"Have no fear, Frank and Len are here!"

After a few moans and groans about how un-heroic that line was, they were about to move on to the third step when a binding net wrapped them, securing around their bodies, constricting their forms in a vise tight enough to send the toppling to the exotic carpet. When that happened, the weird creature just chuckled with glee and dismissed his servants. His servants just left him be, playing with the Ruby doll in a corner, now oblivious to the trapped gang.

"You think you've stopped us from getting our friend?!" Iris screeched as she struggled to get out of the cage. Doom was suddenly wishing that she hadn't skipped her appointment at the Kitty Spa just to buy a new yarn ball. Once upon a time, she could have just scratched away the net but now.. judging by the state of her blunt, mud-stained claws, she couldn't.

"Hold on, I have something.." Misery sighed as she silently drew out... the Mindy doll... which was now very small.

"Hey! How did that doll..?!" Frank began but Misery interrupted him.

"I shrunk it using Frank and Len's peanut-butter and egg sandwich. Turns out, dolls don't like them and become smaller when they eat them. Well, at least Mindy does..."

"Hey, wait just a guitar-picking moment ... how did you eat a peanut-butter without me knowing?!" Frank gasped. They were connected by the hip, for Pete's sake!

"Well, I get up. I go to the fridge..." Len continued to explain to a shocked crowd as Misery quickly took a sharp hair pin from Mindy's beautiful curls. With a sigh, she worked through the ropes. They came loose. However, Misery was careful and subtle in her endeavor, not wanting to alert the creature or his servants to her actions. Which was why everyone was cursing when Misery tripped over the Mindy doll with a resonating 'thud', not even processing the weird beeping sound that was coming from it.

"Misery! Shh! We don't want the weird factory owner to see us!" Frank hissed.

Len chuckled out of the blue and said,

"Oh brother of mine, he already _has_."

The others jumped to their feet as they stared at the monster in horror. In fact, the only one standing out of the sea of shock was Len, wearing a huge smile on his face until the squeaky cogs in his head started turning,

"Oh wait, that's not good, is it?"

"Nope." Frank gulped.

"Yeah, not good for them! Let's show them what we got!" Iris giggled quite creepily, making a fist and cracking her knuckles.

Before they could grab the 'Karate Cyclops-Kid' and the 'Karate Cyclops-Kid' could even launch an attack, the creature suddenly spoke in perfect English,

"Ok, seriously, this is getting annoying. Can't I just play with my doll? I've been waiting an entire year to get such a beautiful doll! Well, at least a red-haired one. And what's that beeping sound?" He asked as he shot a cursory glance at the mountain of dolls stacked up in one corner before his eyes landed on the Mindy doll. He suddenly yelped, let go of doll Ruby and was crying in another language before running away, his servants right on his tail,

"Ch̀wy c̄hạn! The xr̒s̄! S̄t̄hān thī̀ h̄æ̀ng nī̂ pĕn reụ̄̀xng keī̀yw kạb thī̀ ca rabeid!"

**(That's Thai and he said, "HELP ME! SMITHERS! THIS PLACE'S ABOUT TO BLOW!")**

...

"What did he just say?"

"He said that he needed his butler's help and that the place is going to blow up!" Ruby suddenly announced, her lips finally moving. Immediately, she and her friends began to smile. She was grinning as she began stretching her limbs,

"I can finally move!"

"Yes! Now let's get out of here!" Misery cried.

In that simultaneous moment when Misery grabbed Ruby's arm, a deafening blast rocked the ground. The area where the Mindy doll had occupied earlier was now a black crater!

Smokes and sparks shrouded their vision. Debris was strewn everywhere, covering every visible space with a blanket of grey ash. The pungent smell of ammonia choked their lungs as they gasped for air. Throngs of flames licked at the floors of the factory. Shrieks of the running crowd vibrated through the air as the hungry fire swallowed every combustible material in its path of destruction. People were running helter-skelter and every single person hurtled like cannons for the exits. The gang was right at the heart of the chaos and the smoke would have besieged them if they didn't have handkerchiefs with them. The frightening and ghastly sight was all it took to get the gang moving. Their hands( and paws) locked in a death grip, they crouched low to avoid the toxic smoke. As they tried to breathe, they looked for some way to escape.

They were completely trapped by a ring of fire...

"It's kinda sad, actually; you'd think we would go out with a cool death scenario, you know? Like fighting a gang of evil robot sharks or something. At least that's a nice way to die." Iris sighed.

"Yes, this fiery doom sentence is almost as bad as us dying as cartoon characters of a cool show but they are hardly remembered because the cool show was cancelled." Frank moaned.

"Don't worry, we'll make it out... we have three secret weapons on our side..." Ruby giggled as the incessant wailing of sirens was heard.

A crimson red fire truck was battling the obdurate flames. With Skull Boy taming the hose in a firemen suit as Scaredy and Poe rode on it. The water sprays were like paralyzing darts to the fire and the flames fizzled before extinguishing completely.

"Did we miss anything?" Skull Boy shouted as he set up a ladder near the window. Iris was the first to get to the ground and when she did, she suddenly dashed to somewhere else, shouting,

"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BULB-EYED, FLOATING...?!"

"CAREFUL, IRIS! THIS MIGHT BE AN OBSESSION! And you might neglect the most important things in your life that really matter. And be very sorry for that. I can sucessly say that I, Misery the... er...hundredth... or is it one hundred thousandth... is the only one in her entire family line, to learn that." Misery cried out.

Iris arrived in the nick of time to converge in the group hug.

* * *

**Sneak Peek!**

And Poe did not regret his decision this time. They had a whale of a time ramming their own and other cars silly. Having emerged from the vehicles feeling slightly dizzy, everyone wanted to take a break. It was a relief for them to slake their thirst with icy cold drinks.

As Skull Boy slurped nosily from his straw, he heard a familiar tune.


End file.
